AUTHORS

John Buntin is a staff writer at GOVERNING. He covers health care, public safety and urban affairs. A graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, he is the author of two books, "Governing States and Localities" (CQ Press) and "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City" (Harmony Books).

Voters legalized pot in three more places Tuesday, and now they have to decide how to regulate it. Some favor the government selling the drug directly to consumers over creating a for-profit pot industry.

Hospitals may be rural America’s single most important and most endangered institution. Between having to serve some of the sickest and most expensive populations and federal cuts, can small town America save more from closing?

New York City's new police chief, who previously led the force under Rudy Giuliani, is a controversial choice. But to understand why Bill de Blasio picked him, look at what Bratton accomplished in Los Angeles.

After experiencing a homicide rate that earned it international attention last year, Chicago is upending the traditional style of policing and using social networks to rank people’s likelihood of killing and being killed.

The California Republican Party’s willingness to embrace unconventional leadership may provide insights into what the GOP will need to do to win elections nationally in the coming era of the white minority.

Christopher Epps thought he would follow the path of his family members and get his Ph.D. Instead, he made a career at one of Mississippi's most fabled prisons, working his way up to state corrections commissioner.

The Brookings Institution's "State of Metropolitan America" offers a look at the demographic future of America's 100 largest metro areas. In this installment: The growth patterns of the last decade don't bode well for those with green hopes.

The Brookings Institution's "State of Metropolitan America" offers a look at the demographic future of America's 100 largest metro areas. In this post to kick off a series: the "cultural generation gap."

Just how natural became apparent one day in 1975 when Bratton, a
rookie sergeant with the Boston Police Department, got a call that
would have made a veteran blanch: bank holdup; shot fired; possible
hostage situation.

In the face of unprecedented budget shortfalls and escalating health care costs, states and localities are cutting back on employee benefits, particularly health insurance--increasing co-payments for doctor visits and raising monthly premiums and deductibles.

Some 3,000 ships pull into the Port of Los Angeles every year, generating $1.4 billion in revenues for state and local government and thousands of high-paying jobs for area residents. For neighborhoods surrounding the 7,500-acre port complex, however, this economic activity--diesel-powered tractor-trailers unloading cargo, container ships idling in port--creates some of the most polluted air in the Los Angeles basin.

St. Louis has the Gateway Arch; Seattle has the Space Needle. So when Dayton, Ohio, began redeveloping its waterfront as an urban park three years ago, civic leaders decided on a fountain as the defining landmark for their downtown skyline.

So far, it's Maine, zero; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, two. The state's two attempts to pressure drug companies to extend lower Medicaid prices for medications to certain non-Medicaid recipients have been turned back by the courts.

When Memphis' new sports and entertainment center opens in 2004, the Pyramid of Memphis will join a parade of underused and unpaid-for sports stadiums. Among other arenas struggling to compete with newer, nearby facilities are Minneapolis' Target Center and the Miami Arena.